Having had
several requests for information about our kitchen perhaps itís time I
set to and put something together.

As it was
installed when we got our pre-loved Trek Bwana. I canít take credit for
the design or build but I have made some mods which I believe are
improvements.

It is not the
standard kitchen unit that Trek supply. The original owner (a builder)
said he'd had it built I assume by a cabinet maker.

When you
think about it some of the priorities are convenience, storage space,
robustness and weight. We find the first three are met well but at 50kg
on the two outside legs it would be nice to have a bit less weight.

I hope the
pictures will save many words but if you would like any info that I have
not covered please ask, I would be happy to help.

Briefly the
unit is almost the length of the trailer and slides in and out from the
tail gate I will describe the mechanism later. Constructed from 12mm
Melamine coated particle board except for the bench top which is Laminex
covered. Being located on the right hand side of the trailer, when in
place it is out of the way at the end of the canopy leaving a maximum of
free space.

One of the
first things you notice is the large bench top under which are five
drawers.

Part of the bench at the right hand end hinges up for access to the gas
stove and part of the bench at the left hand end hinges up to give
access to what we use as our pot box.

The extreme left end of the
unit has two open top boxes, one holds a 3kg gas bottle the other we use
for vegetable storage

One drawer is setup for our cutlery while another we have found will
hold eight screw top containers.

The containers are commonly available from the supermarket filled with
breakfast fruits.

nuts & bolts

Slide Mechanism

Two rolled steel channels run the length of the trailer, they
have flat bar welded between them to maintain the correct separation and
short angles welded to the outside which are used for bolting through
the trailer floor to the frame cross members. The open sides of the
channels face inward.

The outside of the channel is about 45 X 30mm.

Fixed to the
bottom of the cabinet are two angle irons which again have flat bar
welded between to maintain the correct separation.

The spacing
is such that these angles fit comfortably between the channels on the
floor.

Bolted to the
outside of the angles are a number of (seven on each) Ball bearings on
which the assembly moves.

The Ball
bearing assembly is 40mm dia outside 12mm wide and sealed on both sides,
the OD should be about 1 - 2mm less than the inside of the channel. When
fitting the bearings to the angle ensure there is sufficient gap between
the top of the bearing for the top edge of the channel.

Getting it
all together the bearing rolls inside the channel

Locking Mechanism

This is
one of my mods. I was concerned that there was no reliable method of
locking the kitchen assembly in place. Then after searching a few stores
without finding something to suit (me) I built my own.

The whole thing comprises two
home made latches, operating handle (not pictured), and the connecting
linkage.

The two latches are mounted
on the inside of the angle iron as close as practical to the inside end
of the kitchen assembly. By placing this here I am able to lock it in
any of several positions along the channel.

The operating handle is just
a simple leaver pivoted at one end and the linkage connected about 50mm
from the pivot point.

The link is simply a piece of
fencing wire run through a 9mm copper tube for protection. As I needed
to change direction I used two wire links connecting to two levers, when
I pull the operating handle the two levers move towards the centre.
These levers are then connected each by two (for flexibility) links to
the latch assemblies.

The frame
for the latch is a fabricated box section about 75 X 35 mm. It is
drilled to pass a 9mm rod through it. There is also two holes in the rod
one at the end for the connecting linkage and a smaller one at an
appropriate distance (about 50mm) from the other end into which I use a
small split pin.

Ultimately the rod passes
through the angle iron and a locating hole in the channel. I have
several holes in the channel to enable me to lock in several positions.

The pictures of the latches
were taken with the kitchen out beyond the end of the channel

Care is
needed in positioning the holes so that both latches will lock at the
same time. I refrained from the final assembly of the latch until all
holes were drilled and checked.

Unfortunately you can not see
in the picture but at the RH end of the compression spring is a washer
and then between the washer and the inside of the box section latch
frame there is a split pin through the 9mm rod.

Removable Legs

I found
the original fixed length, folding center leg to be a bit unstable and
quite difficult to manage single handed so my first mod was to fit a
pair of adjustable, removable legs. For extra stability they spread
outwards at the bottom.

With limited access the
kitchen can be used at the mid way position without fitting the legs.

The Stove Lid

On our
first major trip we had a lot of wild windy weather which resulted in
the original stays breaking. I got and fitted replacements but within a
couple of days they too were history. The best I could get parts for was
the arrangement shown on the tech pages. This lasted that trip and a few
more, but has now been replaced.

The latest version serves
also as a wind break and is simple to use.
Once released from the lid the piano hinge at the bottom allows the
stiffend sheet metal to fold down on top of the stove.

The specially shaped hole in the fold of the sheet metal slides over the
head of a screw in the lid and the locking plate swings around to lock
it in place.

Final Words

I would suggest if you are
considering a similar project that consideration be given to using
aluminium for as much of the cabinet as possible. I would expect it to
be much lighter than the particle board.